Mike King’s Community Korero will hit Whangarei from the 8th to the 9th of April to throw solutions at the problem of suicide, with a series of public seminars. NZ has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world, especially among older people and youth. Estimates suggest that 1 in 6 New Zealanders have suicidal thoughts every year. As Mike King puts it “The Korero encourages people to help fight suicide by talking and supporting each other rather than taking their own lives. Silence is not the solution.” Rather than simply telling people they need to talk, King leads by example; Through sharing his own story, he opens the way for community members to share theirs.

In the Community Korero, comedian Mike King gets straight up about his battle with depression, addiction and his ongoing journey back to recovery, including the mistakes he made along the way. This is a not-to-be-missed chance for communities to come together and explore how to support our youth and each other to survive and thrive. People can ask the questions they have always wanted to ask during a Q & A session at the end of the talk where Mike is joined by Engage Aotearoa service director Miriam Larsen-Barr, who also has a lived experience of recovery from being suicidal. Together they are an example of how the issue of suicide can affect anyone, Pakeha and Maori, men and women, young people and adults.

The Q & A is a chance for local professionals, parents, teachers and people with personal experience of these issues to discuss how we as individuals and communities can use our experiences to prevent suicide. Those with questions can ask them and those with knowledge can share it. Feedback from the Community Korero in Kaitaia included comments like “loved it”, “amazing evening, Mike opening his heart and bringing this community together” and “we should have another one I reckon.”

The initiative hopes to reach local schools in Whangarei in the future, through Cool to Korero, a special student-centred session that gives kids a chance to seek help and empowers youth to lead the way in creating supportive school and community environments. At least 20 students came forward to seek help for active suicidal thoughts after the Kaitaia and Taipa talks and were linked in with support.

Students commented “It was mint. I like how you approached the subject like not too serious and yeah, shot oi!”, “Thank you so much, words don’t suffice” and “you should come back mah gee!” Teachers commented “Thank you for giving our rangatahi options to stand up, speak up and seek help” and “I BET you have saved lives today.”

Community Korero is open to the public and a resource table provides plenty of take-home information about everything from suicidal thoughts and supporting someone who is suicidal to recovery and community services. Local services are welcome to bring information to share with the community too – people can simply bring their materials along and add them to the table.

Larsen-Barr comments “suicide is a really hard issue in our communities. There are so many people who are prepared to help and who are already helping. When our powers combine, I truly believe great things will happen. But first, we need to talk about it. Mike’s Korero creates a space to do that.”

Engage Aotearoa and The Key to Life Charitable Trust have organised an opportunity for every high school student in and around Kaitaia to attend a special session with Mike King called Cool to Korero. The focus is on developing supportive school communities and a culture where it is okay to ask for help. The overall aim is to prevent further suicides in the Far North.

Taipa Area School, 1pm – 3pm, Tuesday 5th of March

Open to senior students and parents from surrounding schools by prior arrangement with Taipa Area School

Kaitaia College, Wednesday 6th of March

Open to year 9-13 students from surrounding schools by prior arrangement with Kaitaia College

Many thanks to Mental Health Commissioner Lynne Lane, who heard of the project and arranged funding to allow Skylight to send boxes of resources to gift to the community.

Lane says, “It is important that everyone has a better understanding of how to develop the resilience to cope with the challenges that life holds. We also need to learn how to recognise when someone is struggling to cope with life and to know what to do to support them on the path to recovery. It is important to know the early signs of when someone is developing problems, so that they can get help and avoid becoming seriously unwell. We are all much better informed about how to keep our hearts healthy and how to avoid having a “heart attack” (healthy eating and exercise etc) and now we need to learn how to keep ourselves mentally well and what to do if someone we care about is having problems.”

It is time to stop throwing negatives at the problem of suicide and time to start throwing positives at a solution! Comedian Mike King gets straight up about his battle with depression, addiction and his ongoing journey back to recovery, including the mistakes he made along the way. Hear about the things he learnt from the hard times and how all those mistakes were blessings in disguise. This is a not-to-be-missed chance for the community to come together and explore how to support our youth and each other to survive and thrive. Plus heaps of useful resources to take away for later.

This important community event is followed by two student sessions the next day at Kaitaia College…

Students get to spend some quality time with Kiwi comedian Mike King as he talks about how he survived growing up. Mike’s is the story of a kid who wanted to fit in. It is about wanting to be part of the cool group but being 4’11 with buck teeth and big ears and needing a miracle to make it happen. Then one day he discovered he had a gift to make people laugh and he went from being bullied, to being liked and then many years later becoming a bully himself. Mike will share tips on how to deal with bullies and also why bullies do what they do. Most of all, he will speak about why it is important to talk rather than have conversations with yourself. Mike’s main point is this… in life there will always be hurdles and heartbreak, but with perseverance, support and an attitude of hope, great things WILL happen.

Looking for something?

Search for:

Mental-Health News and Events

Mental-Health News and Events

A Note to Visitors

The views on this website represent perspectives of recovery based on personal, lived experience of accessing services, and supporting loved ones, filtered through a psychological perspective of mental-health problems.

The information shared on this website should not replace good medical or therapeutic advice from a properly trained clinician

Information in the Mental-Health News and Events Blog is usually shared on behalf of third parties and does not necessarily reflect the views of Engage Aotearoa nor imply our endorsement of that information. Contact details for notices shared in the News and Events Blog are included in each post.

We aim to share perspectives that are respectful of the many different approaches to recovery and welcome feedback that helps us share a more balanced view.

If you find yourself distressed or excluded by anything on this website, please contact us to share your feedback and seek support. Please keep in mind Engage Aotearoa is run by volunteers and is an information service only. It may take up to a week to respond to your email.